Need Investment Advice

[brownkhan2]

I am trying to help somebody who are trying to invest $30,000 - $40,000 for a short period of time. There biggest concern is their spending habit, they are afraid that if they don't lock that money somewhere they will spend it. CDs is one option but it doesn't pay anything at all. They don't know enough about stocks to trade smartly.

 

They think that they would have a good business opportunity within next 4-6 months so they are not looking for something that would lock their funds for long term.

 

Any ideas?

[bullthistle]

Everyone does something different but open a brokerage account, I like Fidelity, and purchase some dividend stocks, i.e. clm, psec, dcix, boe, exg, igd, arr, fsc, etc they pay either monthly or quarterly. Go to Finance.Yahoo.com Don't buy at the top, DCIX which is near the lows, risky but it pays 20% coming up this month.

[Kevin20]

Look if it's for 4 - 6 months, don't even think about trying to get a return. All you want is minimum risk, avoidance of loss. I would most certainly never recommend any kind of stock, commodity, or mutual fund for such a short window.

 

The bank is obvious. If they really have trouble keeping their hands off the money, do a 6-month CD. Accept the fact that a return on the investment is not in the cards.

 

A somewhat more sophisticaed approach is to buy Treasury Bills. You can buy T-Bills from Treasurydirect.gov. You can invest in multiples of $100, and there are 3-month and 6-month maturities available.

 

I haven't done this myself, but it doesn't look too hard. See link:

 

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/products/prod_tbills_glance.htmhttp://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/products/prod_tbills_glance.htm

[loanuniverse]

You want it to be liquid and you want it to be safe. FDIC insurance is your friend. While rates are low for CDs, for that kind of money it actually makes more sense to open one of those money market accounts that pay a bonus.

 

Check out https://www.everbank.com/ they are running a special that pays 1.25% just make sure you read the small print in case they have an early closure penalty. I did not read the small print.